Technology for the transmission of information as light impulses has existed for many years. For instance, modern remote control devices for televisions and video cassette recorders operate on this principle, as does the common personal digital assistant capable of receiving data-input. Usually this data-input has been in the form of infrared light. Laser light is also often used in wireless transmission systems.
Most recently, watches have been developed to receive data-input (as bar codes or the like) from a computer monitor as informational instructions for output of data to a wearer. Digital cameras have become popular in recent years. Such cameras can capture images or streams of images and utilize either a charge couple device (CCD) or increasingly with a complementary metal oxide semiconductor active pixel sensor (CMOS APS) to do so. CCD sensors rely on specialized fabrication that requires dedicated and costly manufacturing processes. In contrast, CMOS image sensors can be made at standard manufacturing facilities that produce standard semiconductor chips. The fabrication and basic operation of CMOS imaging systems is well documented, for instance in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,376,868 and 6,333,205, the entirety of each is hereby incorporated by reference.
As the complexity and variety of operations performed by CMOS imaging systems increase, the control of the imaging operation becomes more complex, increasing the desire for imaging system programmability. The need for flexibility in different environmental uses requires a certain amount of programmability in functional operations. In some environments of use, where, for example, the CMOS imager may be constructed as a sealed pill device, external programming of the imaging system is difficult.